


The Moments In-Between

by whalehuntingboyfriends



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: GTA AU, immortal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:39:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whalehuntingboyfriends/pseuds/whalehuntingboyfriends
Summary: Ryan is hopelessly in love with Gavin. It just takes 500 years to get together - literally.(Prompt:3 times Ryan and Gavin had to pretend to dance, and 1 time they did it of their own accord.)





	The Moments In-Between

**Author's Note:**

> For Kahnah - thank you so much for your kindness and support! <3

**1\. 1566**

“Relax,” Gavin whispered. “You look suspicious as hell.”

Ryan grimaced, shifting uncomfortably as he pulled at the grotesquely ruffled collar of his jacket. He felt uncomfortable in these stiff silk robes, and horribly out of place among all these noblemen.

“I _am_ suspicious,” he hissed back. “One look at me and they can all tell-”

“No, they can’t,” Gavin cut in. “Confidence, Ryan. Confidence is the greatest disguise of all.”

“I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Thieves usually aren’t,” Gavin replied, and smirked so wickedly that after a moment Ryan couldn’t help but smile a little, too.

He wasn’t quite sure how his life had brought him here. God - three months ago he’d been nothing but a blacksmith, and the most exciting part of his week was getting to forge a sword rather than horseshoes.

One freak accident with the forge and a rogue necromancer later, and suddenly he was fucking immortal. Great, at first - until he was driven out of his village, hanged for witchcraft, came back from the dead _again_ , and proceeded to become a wild man living in the forest until Ramsey came along and invited him to join the Hood.

At first, it’d seemed great - the prospect of joining a band of others like him. The existential dread about living forever had set in pretty fucking quickly, after all.The fact that the Hood had apparently taken their new lease of life as an opportunity to become immortal vigilantes whose motto was ‘steal from the rich, give to the poor’ was a _bit_ unexpected, but what the hell. He’d rolled with it.

Which brought him here, to the ballroom of Lord Howell’s castle, planning to steal his prized possession  - the largest known diamond in this part of the civilised world-

And his first job with the crew.

He still didn’t know any of them very well, had only been here two weeks - which was why, he suspected, he’d been tasked with the easiest job. Infiltrating tonight’s ball with the aim of sneaking off and opening the windows to let the others in - then causing a diversion in the ballroom, presumably through creating some manner of chaos.

His partner for the job was Gavin - an impish little fellow who seemed to be very close to Ramsey, with a love of experimenting with dying in various horrible ways, usually with the assistance of Michael, either deliberately or by provoking him to violence. Supposedly Geoff didn’t trust him not to fuck up anything but the easiest part of such an important hit, but Ryan secretly suspected _he_ was the one being supervised - that this was a test, either of his abilities or of how well he fit in with the crew.

It all served to make him more fucking nervous than ever, and Gavin must’ve noticed. He reached out and grabbed Ryan’s hand suddenly, making him jump.

“Come on,” he said, with a gentle smile. “We look absurd lurking about here. Let’s dance - we’ll fit in better!”

“Dance?” Ryan spluttered - dear _God_ , that sounded even worse - but before he could resist, Gavin was tugging him into the colourful, shifting mess of swirling ballgowns in the middle of the room. “Gav, I-”

“Relax. You’re doing fine.”

Somehow they’d ended up in their own little floorspace. Gavin had a hand on Ryan’s shoulder, and he guided Ryan’s own hand to his waist, swaying gently to the rhythm of the music. Ryan fell into step automatically, still a little flustered and stumbling-

But Gavin was smiling up at him, and Ryan looked down at him - _God, those green eyes_ \- he hadn’t paid much attention to any of the others but Geoff until now, too awkward and shy to reach out much. But for a moment, as they moved together to the rise and fall of the strings, Gavin’s narrow hip under his hand and toothy smile and ocean eyes seemed breathtaking. There was something about them that Ryan knew made others uncomfortable, something all immortals had - his pupils were solid black rather than reflective; you couldn’t see yourself in them, a subtlety not many people could put their finger on, but that was discomfiting regardless. But not for Ryan - for Ryan, it was a kinship. A reminder that he wasn’t alone as one of these new monstrosities.

He must have been smiling too - he didn’t even realise until Gavin suddenly reached up and traced along his chin.

“You have a very noble jaw for a blacksmith,” he said, and Ryan couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not. He felt his cheeks heat, anyway. “Don’t worry, you fit right in. You’re good at dancing - I usually have two left feet but this one’s a bit slow, at least.”

“You’re doing fine,” Ryan murmured, and Gavin’s eyes dropped for a second before he looked back up, bashfully.

“Good to hear.” His hand squeezed Ryan’s shoulder. “Relax. Enjoy yourself. Just wait until we pull this off. The thrill of a successful hit… I can’t even begin to describe it. When you feel it, you’ll know. You’ll never want to leave.”

Ryan nodded. But it wasn’t just that, he thought, it wasn’t the diamonds or the money or the vindictive pleasure of taking down some of their country’s rich and corrupt. It was warm arms around him, and someone not looking at him like he was a monster for once, and the promise of a _future_ together, and the way Gavin was grinning at him.

_This can be good,_ he thought, with a sudden certainty, and held Gavin tighter and _danced_.

* * *

 

**2\. 1975**

400 years was a long fucking time to pine, but here Ryan was, lying on the lawn chewing on a blade of grass, watching the sun reflect off Gavin’s hair as he threw his head back and laughed, completely fucking smitten.

It was a bright summer’s day. Strains of music hung in the air along with lingering fake laughter and the chatter of crowds. He could smell weed somewhere nearby, but for the most part the people around them were lounging about on blankets, talking, making out. The sun on his back was nice. People knew the Fake AH Crew by now - they were the most notorious gangsters in the city, after all - but they wore masks on all their jobs and no one would expect two of them to be _here_ , at a music festival, laying peacefully about.

They were close enough to the stage to hear each song. Led Zeppelin finished to a chorus of applause and Gavin, who had been giggling over some man’s unfortunate fashion choices nearby, turned back to Ryan with bright eyes.

He caught him staring, and Ryan felt a flash of panic - but Gavin just smiled back , and _God_ , he loved him. They’d been through thick and thin by now, across the centuries, across oceans and countries and facing threats both human and inhuman. They’d died so many times he’d long lost track of it. But they were still here, with a few new additions to the crew, him and Gavin - Gavin who he adored. Gavin who he was too damn chicken to say anything to.

“Having fun?” Gavin asked.

“Of course,” Ryan replied, and couldn’t look away from him even as he heard the next act start up. Gavin was as beautiful as ever, with his huge hair and his shirt open too low, exposing far too much of his chest. Ryan was used to it by now - had memorised every inch of golden skin caught across hundreds of years of fleeting glimpses.

He shrugged off his own leather jacket. It was getting too hot. Thought he caught Gavin’s eyes trail over him - but couldn’t be sure. A moment later Gavin looked away anyway, and his eyes widened with horror.

“Oh, Jesus, it’s Eddie.”  
  
“What?”

“My ex-boyfriend.”

“What?” Ryan repeated, blankly.

“You know,” Gavin spluttered, “The one what I dated during the war.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“We talking French Revolution, Civil, Great War…?”

Gavin rolled his eyes and made an indignant sort of hand gesture.

“ _Eddie_ ,” he repeated. “The one with the stupid blue tooth that’s supposedly some sort of ridiculous fashion statement?”

“Oh! Shit, he’s still around?” Ryan twisted to look, and sure enough there was Eddie, sauntering through the crowd with his stupid spiky hair and pallid skin and that bright blue false tooth that looked bizarre now and had looked even fucking weirder two hundred years ago when he was wearing it with a curly white wig and breeches. Ryan was surprised he hadn’t burned to a crisp in this weather. “Fuck, dude. You need to stop dating vampires.”

“But Ryan,” Gavin whined, “It’s not fair to date mortals.”

“Yeah, but then we run into them for centuries afterwards!” He cracked his knuckles and raised his eyebrows. “Want me to stake him for you?”  
  
“No, don’t,” Gavin said. “He wasn’t as bad as some of the others - oh, God! He’s coming this way! Hide me!” 

He shifted closer to Ryan, pressing himself flat against the ground. For a moment Ryan thought of the trenches. He shook himself.

“What’s the big deal? It’s been hundreds of years since you saw him.”

“Yeah, but he dumped me. I don’t wanna have to engage with him.” He leaned up just far enough to peek at Eddie, and cursed. “Shit, there’s no avoiding it - get up, get up!”

“What? Why?” Ryan protested. It was nice on the sunny grass, but he didn’t resist as Gavin dragged him to his feet.

“Come dance,” he said, and Ryan tugged at his hand.

“I don’t like dancing,” he protested weakly.

“Yes you do,” Gavin declared. “Besides, I want him to see us. Make him jealous.”

“How will us dancing make him jeal-”

He broke off as Gavin tugged him flush against his body, and God, they’d touched before, had hugged and fallen asleep curled up around each other and they were as close as anyone could be when you’d known each other for hundreds of years - but it still made him nearly choke, made his cheeks heat bright red, Gavin tugging him about in a weird boppy sort of beat. After a moment, he rested his head against Ryan’s chest and turned to look at Eddie.

He had noticed them by now, and stopped to stare with narrowed eyes. Vampires were ugly motherfuckers - in Ryan’s totally unbiased opinion - and while he’d never liked the guy while he and Gavin were dating, he suddenly loathed him even more. His arms tightened possessively around Gavin, glowering at Eddie, making it damn clear that he should back off. He felt Gavin laugh against his chest, a rumbling thrum. For a moment it almost felt real. _Stay away. This one’s mine._

“Nice acting, Ry-bread,” Gavin whispered, as Eddie turned and stalked off. It was only when Gavin shifted in his arms that Ryan remembered to let go, and rather awkwardly stepped back.

“Yeah, well,” he said, a bit embarrassed, and Gavin laughed again. He turned and danced away on his own, spinning about with some very enthusiastic hip movements clearly influenced by Elvis. Ryan stared at him, amused, nearly transfixed.

_You should just ask him out. Why haven’t you, yet?_ It was one thing to delay for weeks or months, but years? _Centuries?_ It was fucking ridiculous.

_Fear_. It sounded stupid, when he’d left that meek blacksmith long behind and become Ramsey’s Vagabond, the most feared member of the entire damn crew, when death was no longer something to be scared of.

He supposed he was worried about breaking _this_ \- the closeness the entire crew felt, how comfortable they’d grown with one another. They were a family, and if Gavin didn’t like him back, things would be tense. Sure, they might heal, but there would always be some strain of awkwardness. Not to mention, if Gavin did like him, surely _he_ would’ve made a move by now. Instead both he and Ryan had cycled through a number of relationships, and while Ryan’s had always been unfulfilling, fleeting, while he’d quickly ended most of them after he realised he shouldn’t waste their time when he loved someone else - some of Gavin’s had lasted years.

He couldn’t just blame the environment, how the move to America had made it more dangerous to be openly together. The FAHC was powerful enough that they were lucky that that didn’t matter. It wasn’t an excuse he could hold up anymore. All he could do was stand, and watch Gavin, and wish he could easily move forward and hold him again and dance with him, and know nothing but his own cowardice was what stood in the way.

* * *

 

**3\. 2017**

The pounding pulse of the club’s music rang in Ryan’s ears. His face paint felt sticky under his mask, running into his eyes as he sweated, shoving his way through the dense crowds. He blinked it away, focused on the job - looking for the target.

“Got eyes on him, Ryan?” Geoff murmured in his ear.

“Not yet.”

“Well, Gavin’s somewhere nearby. He might’ve had more luck.”

Ryan nodded, muscling his way through another group of dancing people. In the flashing light it felt like he was trapped in some dream or weird hallucination, humans with animal heads all around him - cats, rabbits, foxes, other skulls leering at him between every pulsing beat of fluorescent pink and blue. 

A hand touched his - and he spun to catch a glimpse of Gavin’s golden hair before he slipped into the crowd. His breath catching, Ryan followed. Every time the lights returned he caught a fleeting look at him, like a will o’ the wisp leading him towards a marginally less crowded corner of the dance floor.

Finally, Gavin turned and let him catch up, grabbing Ryan’s hands and tugging him close as he reached him.

“Hey there, Vagabond,” he said. “Found you at last.”

A golden mask glittered on the top half of his face, green eyes peering up at Ryan from behind it. Ryan had loved him in hundreds of decades, through lifetimes of societies and cultures. But Gavin’s current look was one of the ones he liked best. The crew was at the height of their power and Gavin was their golden boy, his hair bright blonde now, jewellery sparkling at his lip and ears and the side of his nose, like some glimmering treasure in the dark night club.

“You seen the mark?” Gavin continued. They were here to kill someone, and Ryan’s heart was pounding like the music around them. He’d fallen into the rhythm of all this by now - sometimes he still thought of that first job with Gavin, what he had said.

_You’ll never want to leave._

He didn’t. It still thrilled him, this job. You didn’t get sick of it, even after centuries.

“No, have you?”  
  
“He was in the bathroom earlier. Think he’s doing a line.” Gavin jerked his head sideways and Ryan realised the fluorescent sign leading to the restrooms was just near them. “If we stay here, we’ll catch him coming out.” 

Ryan nodded. 

“Blend in,” Gavin added, and began to very enthusiastically do a move Ryan could really only describe as the ‘headless chicken.’

“I don’t like this type of dancing,” he protested, when Gavin began making very flamboyant beckoning motions that involved fingers, hands _and_ arms all at once.

“You say that every time, Ryan!” Gavin cried. “You’re like 500 years old, I’m sure you’ve picked up some moves by now. You can’t just stand there. You look a fool. Just close your eyes and move your body!”  
  
Ryan didn’t close his eyes, but after a moment he mirrored Gavin’s own shifting, swaying movements. Gavin stepped closer to him and for a second there was something almost hypnotic about watching the light reflect off his mask and piercings. It made it easy to fall into the rhythm of the music.

“See?” Gavin had to shout to be heard over the bass. “You’re doing it! Trying to tell me you can’t dance when we’ve danced together heaps of times!”

“Always for jobs,” Ryan pointed out.

“Yeah, true,” Gavin said, and looked a bit thoughtful suddenly, his brows furrowing. Before he could say anything else, someone backed into him, bumping him and sending him falling against Ryan with a yelp.

“Hey, watch it!” Ryan snapped, catching him, feeling a flare of annoyance at nearly having the wind knocked out of him. The big, drunk guy who’d just left the bathrooms only mumbled incoherently and stumbled off. Ryan glared after him, still clutching Gavin against his chest. His mask had been knocked askew, but as he stared up with wide eyes, Ryan felt his breath hitch a little.

“Sorry,” Gavin said.

“Not your fault.” Ryan loosened his grip, but Gavin didn’t pull away, one hand clutching loosely at Ryan’s shirt. His tongue darted out to wet his lips a little.

“Um. Hey, Ryan, by the way… I was wondering if you-”

Ryan waited, breathless - but Gavin had broken off, eyes fixed on the crowds near them, and he took a step back suddenly.

“Fuck. The mark’s out of the bathroom, we gotta follow him!”

He turned to go, but on impulse Ryan reached out and caught his wrist, tugging him back. For once, he wasn’t letting this go - not when he’d spent the last forty years trying to figure out if Gavin liked him, not when they’d had a lot of _almosts_ , funny quiet moments when he thought something might happen between them but somehow it never quite got there.

“What were you going to say?” he asked.

Gavin bit his lip, and for a moment looked almost nervous. Then he dared a shy glance up at Ryan.

“Let’s dance some time,” he said, and took a deep breath. “Not for a job.”

“Dance?” Ryan replied, and Gavin nodded.

“Among other things,” he said, and smiled a bit. “You can’t just start dancing out of nowhere - well, you _could_ , but it’d look ridiculous. Gotta go somewhere together first. Like a party or a dinner or a concert or something.”

“We should,” Ryan said, a bit too quickly, but it was hard to be embarrassed when Gavin’s face broke into a huge grin. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” Gavin said, and Ryan’s heart felt like it could burst at the way he laughed - nervous and excited and like some pent up tension had been released, like he’d been dwelling on this years as well, and somehow after so long the fact that it was finally _happening_ felt almost unreal. 

He knew he’d have time to process it later. For now he took the surge of adrenaline and caught Gavin’s hand instead, tugging him towards the rest of the club.

“Come on then. Let’s go catch this guy!”

* * *

 

 

**+1. 2112**

Staring at the Earth from orbit was as incredible as everyone had always said.

Ryan stood in the observation deck of their ship, watching it slowly rotate past them through the glass. Part of him still couldn’t believe that they were finally out here. He stood, transfixed, staring at the world he had spent all his life on. For a long time he hadn’t felt human - but now he felt some connection to the planet that he never did before, knowing suddenly how vast everything else out there was, knowing that there might be so much more existing in those endless depths. Other creatures. Other lives. They couldn’t die, but it was enough to nearly scare him, because he may have lived most of history but this - this was new, and unknown, and so much damn _bigger_ than them.

It was humbling, feeling so _tiny_ \- but at the same time, exhilarating, and he couldn’t draw his eyes away.

He heard Gavin’s footsteps just before the other man came up next to him and slipped an arm around his waist, resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder.

“Feeling better?” Ryan asked. Gavin had been sick on the way up - apparently his weak stomach didn’t get any stronger despite how long he’d been alive.

Gavin nodded.

“Yeah - it passed. Holy shit,” he added, gasping as he seemed to suddenly take in the view before them. “It’s beautiful.”

“Still not as beautiful as you,” Ryan couldn’t help murmuring, and Gavin gave a startled laugh, his cheeks heating red.

“That was so cheesy,” he cried, shoving at Ryan’s side. “So unbe _lievably_ sappy. And you call yourself the fearsome Vagabond!”

“You all called me the Vagabond! I just ran with it! Time for a new codename soon, I reckon.”

Gavin laughed again, smiling brilliantly, and _God_ , Ryan loved him. He turned and tilted Gavin’s chin up, pulling him into a kiss that he returned eagerly, and somehow out here in space it felt different. Unearthly. Took his breath away anew. It had been a hundred fucking years and he still loved Gavin so damn much that it never got old, that every day felt like a new adventure.

When they pulled apart Gavin leaned in and hugged him tightly. Ryan wrapped his arms around him in turn, ducking to kiss the top of Gavin’s hair - a faded blue, now, but he’d kept the golden piercings even as Earth fashions cycled through various phases that all seemed to involve stretch fabrics. 

“Remember when we called ourselves the Hood?” Gavin murmured. “Never would’ve guessed all those years ago that we’d wind up in the sky one day.”

“Past the sky,” Ryan said, “In space! We barely even knew what was beyond our own Earth back then.”

Gavin nodded, humming.

“Can’t believe we actually made it out here,” he said, turning his head so he could look out the viewport again. “And there’s still so much to come. Infinity seems awful if you’re alone, but-”

“We’re not alone,” Ryan finished. “And God, am I glad I ran into you guys back then.”  
  
Gavin smiled. After a moment he twisted away to fish something out of his pocket. Ryan burst out laughing as he noticed the portable music device.

“Oh God, what are you doing now?”

“We’re miles above the planet, Ryan! Looking down at _Earth_! We’re out in bloody space and about to go even farther! We’ve kissed looking down at the planet,” Gavin exclaimed, “Now let’s dance!”

He set the player down and fiddled with it. After a moment an old, folky tune rang out that made Ryan roll his eyes and laugh - but Gavin was already catching his hands and pulling him into a spin, and Ryan fell into step with him. It was easy by now, and comfortable, and it wasn’t the first time they’d danced together, far from it. Even after getting together on that first date, there had been weddings and parties and a few very interesting Renaissance Fairs, and a hundred other opportunities.

Ryan had never liked dancing, not really - but with Gavin it was different, and when they were in outer fucking space it felt even more special. The old music was so at odds with their sleek surroundings, with a future he could never have dreamed of so long ago - one he still couldn’t quite believe was happening today.

There had been moments, over the last 500 years, when he’d felt hopeless. When even being with the crew didn’t feel like enough and what had happened to him seemed like a curse - when he worried about what might come.

But right now, waltzing 500 kilometers above Earth with Gavin, he didn’t regret a second of it - and he couldn’t wait to explore the ever-expanding future with him.


End file.
